Returning Shadows
by Onimiman
Summary: This is my first collaboration fanfic with fellow author HubrisP. Special thanks to him for the idea and the title of this fic. Story: A year has passed since the final battle with Abeloth, and a new crisis between the Galactic Alliance and the Mandalorians has sprung up. The Jedi get involved, and the Chiss Ascendancy begin breaking their state of isolationism to help.
1. Chapter 1

The _Slave I_ landed within the landing field of Clan Fett's modest homestead on the world of Mandalore. Arranged around the inside of the field's perimeter were hundreds of armored Mandalorians who held their helmets at their sides in respect for the return of their leader. The anticipation among the crowd that ringed the _Slave I_ was high as they waited for their esteemed Mandalore, Boba Fett, to disembark from his legendary ship with his family.

The Mandos didn't have to wait long. After a quarter of a minute, the _Slave I_'s landing ramp lowered to the ground, and Boba Fett, the only one there with his helmet on, simply stepped out of his old ship with his family following behind. His Kiffar and non-Mandalorian wife Sintas Vel was the first to follow him, followed by their granddaughter Mirta Gev Orade, her helmet hooked onto her belt and carrying her three-year-old daughter Jila Orade up on her shoulder. Mirta's husband and Jila's father Ghes, who was carrying his own helmet, was the last one out.

The entire crowd was silent as the Fett-Orade clan began walking toward the portion of Mandalorians who were blocking the entrance to their homestead. Those Mandos silently and wordlessly parted to both sides as if they were of a hive mind, allowing their leader to finally return home.

But before the clan was roughly halfway to their home, Fett and Mirta suddenly stopped in their tracks. While Fett's expression couldn't be seen due to his helmet, Mirta and Jila's painful, agonizing expressions were clear as day. Mirta then dropped Jila from her grasp, coercing Ghes to react quickly by catching Jila from hitting the ground. But when he looked upon his daughter in his arms, he watched in horror as her face began dissolving away along with the rest of her body.

Mirta's face was also dissolving as she collapsed to her knees, then fell prone to the ground. The same occurred to Fett at the same time, even if his helmet prevented the site of his skin from being seen by all those around him. Ghes and Sintas looked to all three of their dying relatives, their horrified expressions never changing. The Mandalorians who were now witnessing this event couldn't help but gasp in shock in watching their Mandalore and his blood relatives dissolve before their eyes. Soon, the only thing that remained of Mirta and Jila were their denuded skeletons and their armor and clothes. No doubt the same thing applied to Fett. Sintas knelt down to her dead husband and removed his helmet, revealing what everyone expected; a fleshless skull whose eyes were devoid of any life whatsoever.

Not a word was said or a sound made from the moments that passed the horror that just happened within the landing field. When those moments concluded, Ghes Orade, still holding his dead daughter in his arms, looked up among the ringed crowd of Mandos and declared, "The GA must pay for this!"

~o~

Jedi Master Cilghal barged into Grand Master Luke Skywalker's office within the Order's Temple on Shedu Maad without pretense. Luke looked up from his datapad, which he was scrolling through as he checked out the information brought in pertaining to the Temple's new inventory, and regarded Cilghal warily as she leaned over his desk.

"We have a problem, Master Skywalker," she said.

"Oh?" Luke asked in a neutral tone. "Do tell, Master Cilghal."

"You know how Boba Fett managed to have the cure to the nanovirus plaguing his homeworld synthesized?" Cilghal asked.

"Fairly," Luke said. He'd been pretty busy with the Order lately since their exile from Coruscant a year ago; the news that Fett attained a cure a few weeks ago to that nanovirus targeting him and his bloodline was one that Luke only knew in passing. "What about it?"

"Well, that nanovirus cure was a collaboration between the Galactic Alliance and the Mandalorians for the past six months," Cilghal explained. "It was made as a deal between the GA and the Mandos in order to compensate Fett for his exile from his homeworld." Normally, the Alliance wouldn't have helped a man who busted its former Chief of State Natasi Daala from a prison on Coruscant, but given some valuable information that he provided regarding the whereabouts of remaining Lost Tribe of Sith members across the galaxy, Fett decided to have the concoction of the nanovirus his pay.

"I don't see how this concerns the Jedi Order so far," Luke said in as patient a tone as he could muster at the moment.

"Well, here's where we get involved," Cilghal said. "Specifically, where Jedi Tekli and I got involved. You see, we were contacted by a biochemist on Coruscant named Dr. Vera Trollos to help in the concoction of the nanovirus cure, and so Tekli and I agreed." Trollos was a Chagrian scientist known to have taught biochemistry in various universities across the galaxy; his reputation preceded him within the galaxy's scientific community wherever he went.

"So that was the anonymous project with the GA that you and Tekli had been involved with for all these months," Luke said. Cilghal never told the Grand Master what the project was because had the public of the Alliance figured out that there were Jedi working with the government on Coruscant, which was obviously defying the terms of the exile, Luke himself could deny that he knew what Cilghal and Tekli were doing exactly, and thus spare the entire Order of true scandal.

"Yes," Cilghal confirmed.

"So let me guess," Luke said. "Something went wrong with the cure."

"Your guess is correct," Cilghal said as she took out her datapad from her belt. She then turned on its screen, briefly looked it over to check for the time, then switched to a frequency that was projecting a commercial for a new brand of shoes on Coruscant. "The news broadcast should be back on any moment, Master."

When the commercial ended, a live news broadcast was indeed playing and recording images within the Senate Rotunda. The cam was focusing on a handsome-looking Mandalorian shouting angrily before the thousands of beings around him. A small contingent of three helmeted Mandos sat behind their ranting representative. Perre Needmo's voice played over the footage.

"If you're only just joining us," Needmo's voice began, "the first voted leader of the Mandalorians, Ghes Orade, is speaking before the Galactic Alliance Senate, blaming the government for deliberately ending the life of his predecessor, legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett. Mandalore Orade claims that the GA had provided a false cure to the nanovirus that had plagued the world of Mandalore's atmosphere, which prevented either Fett or anyone of his direct bloodline from returning without dying. Fett himself, and two his blood relatives, Mirta Gev Orade and Jila Orade, who were also Mandalore Orade's wife and daughter respectively, had died about three days ago."

"I've heard enough," Luke said, allowing Cilghal to mute the footage. "So Fett and his family returned to their homeworld, they died, and now Fett's grandson-in-law threatens to break out war between the Mandos and the Alliance, right?" Luke recognized Orade's name at least; considering his niece Jaina's brief friendship with Fett's granddaughter, Mirta Gev, prior to the end of the Second Galactic Civil War four years ago, Luke had heard of Orade from Jaina in passing.

"Indeed," Cilghal answered in response to Luke's query.

"And the Jedi Order must get involved because of your involvement with that cure, right?" Luke asked.

Cilghal nodded wordlessly, her expression expectant of Luke's agreement. At the same time, she was aware of a reserved presence in the Force approaching her from behind; she didn't dare turn, as she didn't sense any malice or harmful intent from the presence, and at any rate, she didn't intend to look away before she received Luke's approval of the Order's proposed involvement in this new Mandalorian dispute.

The Grand Master sat back in his chair and sighed before running his natural hand over his face. "I think our involvement would at least reduce the possibilities of there being another war anyway."

"I would agree, Master Skywalker," a deep, masculine voice said at Luke's still-open door behind Cilghal.

The Mon Calamari Master finally decided to turn around and saw a young, pale-skinned human-Chiss teenage male, who bore brown eyes instead of the Chiss red, standing at the entrance of the door.

"In fact, you don't mind if the Chiss Ascendancy offers its services in this dispute?" the human-Chiss asked.

"Ah, Ambassador Rehak," Luke announced. The human-Chiss's full name was Iollar'eha'kallek, Luke knew, but naturally, like all other Chiss he knew, they preferred to be referred to by their core name, and all other non-Chiss, like Luke himself, preferred it that way, as well. "Just in time. Please, have a seat."

Rehak nodded before completely entering the room. He acknowledged Cilghal with another nod before seating himself in one of the two guest chairs of Luke's office.

"Master Cilghal," Luke said, looking to the Mon Calamari, "do you have anything else to report?"

Cilghal shook her head. "No, Master Skywalker."

"Then you're dismissed," Luke concluded.

The Mon Calamari nodded, then turned and walked out of the room.

Luke returned his attention to Rehak. "You know, Ambassador, I didn't expect you to be so willing to donate your services to our upcoming involvement with this new problem with the Mandalorians and the GA."

"I wouldn't be if you didn't ferry Raynar Thul out of the Reo system last year and prevent another Killik crisis from arising," Rehak said.

"So that's what this meeting is about, hmm?" Luke asked. "You mean to tell me that you came all the way from the Unknown Regions to offer me your services to a problem that has only now just arisen?"

"The Ascendancy's spies among the Mandalorians had reported Fett and his direct family's deaths back to us long before Orade decided to take to Coruscant," Rehak explained. "We also knew of Master Cilghal and Jedi Tekli's involvement with this 'fake' cure."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know the Ascendancy had spies outside the Unknown Regions these days."

"The Phalanxes on Csilla have had a change of mind lately," Rehak explained further. "They decided that maybe it would be time to expand the Ascendancy's power beyond the Unknown Regions by joining the greater galaxy."

"So the Chiss have decided to insert spies across the galaxy?" Luke asked. He wasn't surprised that they could insert spies; he didn't imagine that it would be that hard to apply plastic surgery on their own members to make them appear human at least, or even send out their own human members.

"In spite of their change of mind, the Phalanxes are still quite cautious," Rehak answered.

"Ah," Luke said, putting his hands together and observing the ambassador beyond them. "And you don't believe this cure is fake?"

"I'd trust that Master Cilghal and Jedi Tekli wouldn't commit an act that would undoubtedly aggravate a war between two powerful civilizations such as the Galactic Alliance and the Mandalorians," Rehak said.

"So because of what you knew of Cilghal and Tekli's involvement," Luke began, "and because of your knowledge of Orade's intentions before he even left Mandalore, you decided that a partnership between the Jedi Order and the Chiss Ascendancy would be necessary to prevent a war between the GA and the Mandos."

"Exactly," Rehak nodded.

Luke sighed. "I hope this partnership will be enough to prevent another war."

Something - perhaps it was his years of experience as a veteran of war, perhaps it was a sensation in the Force, or perhaps it was something else altogether - Luke doubted that war could be prevented this time.


	2. Chapter 2

Confederation Admiral Turr Phennir's desk comm buzzed in his office. Sitting behind his desk, Phennir reached for the comm and activated it. "Yes?" he asked.

"Admiral, there is a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Goran Beviin here to see you," Phennir's secretary said in her typical monotone. "He isn't scheduled for a meeting with you."

Phennir raised an eyebrow as he thought over whether or not he wanted to see this Mando, especially given the recent dispute between the Galactic Alliance and the Mandalorians on Coruscant. Then again, when Phennir really thought about it, Mandalorians in general were bounty hunters by trade, so even in a time of war or crisis, he wouldn't be surprised if there were a few Mandos here and there who distanced themselves from large scale actions led by the late Boba Fett.

But he somehow doubted that Goran Beviin's arrival here wasn't connected with this recent dispute.

"Send him in," Phennir concluded with a smirk on his face. Then he signed off from the comm.

A few moments later, a Mando whose armor was painted blue walked into his office and sat down without removing his helmet. Phennir didn't blame him; Boba Fett was known to have never removed his helmet around others for the entirety of his bounty-hunting career.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Mr. Beviin?" Phennir asked.

"Admiral Phennir, I'm sure you're all but aware of Mandalore Orade's accusations to the Galactic Alliance of deliberately killing his predecessor, are you not?" Beviin asked.

"How could I not?" Phennir asked. "But the question that comes to mind here is this: Why should I get involved?"

"Because war is inevitable between the Alliance and the Mandalorian Nation, Admiral," Beviin said. "Mandalore Orade is set on it. All this ranting on the HoloNet is merely for show and to distract the GA government from noticing the likes of me gathering up allies across the galaxy, such as yourself."

"Again, why should I get involved?" Phennir asked.

"You don't think this war will affect you, Admiral?" Beviin asked. "You and your forces will inevitably get involved anyway, so tell me: Would you want to side with an enemy you fought half a decade ago, or a force that helped defeat that enemy?"

Phennir sighed. "Even if I decided no, you're just going to kill me right here, no problem, and then walk out of here, no problem, as my security forces wouldn't do bantha poodoo against you, right?"

"You think I'd come here, offering you this alliance, and think that if you denied our request, I wouldn't have an exit plan?" Beviin asked. "Or any additional forces?"

"You'd be risking war with the Confederation if you killed me anyway, Mr. Beviin," Phennir pointed out.

"Yes, but I don't see you as the self-sacrificing sort, Admiral Phennir," Beviin countered with a smirk.

Damn this Mando, Phennir thought. He was right.

~o~

On the world of Thule, within the ruins of the ancient Sith Temple, Sith Lord Vestara Khai gathered around the floor of the topmost level of the Temple with several of her fellow Lost Tribe and One Sith runaways as if they were second graders anticipating reading time from their teacher. She and the other runaways had been living in this Temple for the past six months now, ever since the being who stood in the center of their circle came to each of them, informing that the meager abilities of Darth Krayt and the otherwise-directionless leaders of the Lost Tribe could not compare to the power that the True Sith Empire would bring.

In the center of the circle of Sith was an imposing yet stunningly beautiful human female with wavy brunette hair, dressed all in black as any self-respecting Sith would. Of all the Sith in the room, she cast the greatest presence in the dark side than any one of those who sat around her.

"The time has come, my fellow Sith," Sith Lord Araq Baothe proclaimed as she turned around the circle. "Mandalore Orade will openly declare war upon the Galactic Alliance tomorrow, so get some sleep and we will prepare to set off to meet up with the Mandalorians halfway to Coruscant. You are all dismissed."

With that, the ring was disbanded as all the other Sith, Vestara included, stood up and walked out of the room for their quarters to rest for the night. And when all of them but Baothe were gone, her fair features seemed to melt away into that of a grey-faced, noseless, tentacled being with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

Everything was going according to plan for her and her brother, Abeloth thought gleefully.

~o~

It would have been a typical, boring meeting with the dissatisfied Hapan Duchas in Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo's Council Room had it not been for the assassination attempt that occurred roughly five minutes into the meeting. Again, it still would have been a typical, boring meeting, given the frequent attempts on the Queen Mother's life that she had to deal with so far in her reign, if her assassin wasn't a well-trained Sith.

The assassin, an attractive female human in her mid-twenties, was standing at the back of the room, near the exit, before she whipped out her crimson lightsaber and sent it twirling all the way around the room to slice through all of the positioned guards. Tenel Ka watched in shock as the slaughter occurred while the terrified Duchas scrambled to hide beneath the Council Table to futilely protect their lives.

When the assassin's lightsaber returned to her hands, she then leaped across the room and aimed herself for Tenel Ka. But naturally, the Queen Mother didn't intend to make herself a sitting duck; she quickly stood up from her seat and simultaneously unleashed her rancor-toothed lightsaber from its hilt, igniting its blade just in time to catch the opposing red blade from decapitating her. At that point, the duel was on.

The Sith assassin parried away Tenel Ka's blade with her own before launching a kick into the Queen Mother's jaw. The latter stumbled back from the attack but quickly recovered to block the downward swipe from the Sith that would have cleaved her in two. Tenel Ka then aimed the stub of her dismembered arm at the Sith's torso and sent her flying back off the table. With the Sith temporarily downed, Tenel Ka then leaped all the way over the table and came down upon her opponent with her blade aimed to stab her through the heart.

The assassin rolled off to the side, causing Tenel Ka to impale her blade through the marble floor before she pulled it out. The Queen Mother then turned to the Sith, who, by then, leaped to her feet and rushed Tenel Ka. The latter was then driven back by the flurry of strikes that the former was delivering for about ten seconds before Tenel Ka felt her back hitting the wall behind her. She then leaped up and flipped over her opponent, attempting to decapitate the Sith along the way. Naturally, though, the Sith blocked the attack while simultaneously whirling around to meet Tenel Ka when she landed.

When the Queen Mother landed, though, after she blocked another strike from her opponent, she then head-butted the Sith in the nose, driving her back against the wall. But when Tenel Ka slashed down toward the Sith, the latter simply pivoted away; however, that caused Tenel Ka to trip her foe with her ankle, sending the Sith stumbling down to the floor.

But upon her landing, the assassin then rolled her body across the floor toward Tenel Ka. The Queen Mother then fell forward and hit her head against the wall. The assassin then leaped to her feet and slashed a deep furrow into Tenel Ka's back.

The Hapan Queen Mother's corpse collapsed to the floor, no doubt leaving the Consortium in a state of strife, along with her remaining family, particularly her daughter Allana.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke and Rehak walked side-by-side together with the latter's two Chiss guards behind them as they headed toward the entrance of the Jedi Temple's hangar bay. They were roughly ten meters from the entrance before Luke said, "I hope you have a safe trip to Coruscant, Ambassador."

"As do I to you, Master Skywalker," Rehak replied formally with as they walked through the entrance that had just opened up for them.

They then separated and headed to the opposite sides of the hangar, Rehak's guards naturally joining him, but the three Chiss didn't get far to his shuttle before it was lifted into the air by an orange plume of fire. Rehak and his guards were blown back by the force of the impact that the explosion created, and they hit the deck hard on their backs as everyone else in the hangar, who were previously just tending to their own ships, looked at the explosion in shock.

Luke, also viewing the explosion with total surprise, then felt a prickle of danger through the Force that wasn't unrelated to the destruction of the Chiss shuttle. He instinctively looked to his right and found a middle-aged human Jedi sprint toward Rehak and his guards. The Grand Master was initially confused as to why his danger sense would register when a Jedi was no doubt trotting over to the Chiss to help them, but when that "Jedi" took out and activated a crimson-bladed lightsaber, it all made sense; a Sith assassination attempt, Luke realized quickly.

The Sith, meters away from Rehak and his guards, leaped into the air and prepared to slash down upon the young human-Chiss ambassador. But a blazing blue lightsaber blade blocked the red one from striking Rehak as the Sith landed. The would-be assassin looked to his right and found that the wielder of the blue blade was none other than Ben Skywalker, son of the Grand Master of the Jedi Order.

"Maybe you should have waited for the ambassador to have boarded his shuttle before bombing it?" Ben retorted to the Sith.

"It was a time bomb," the Sith managed to explain, struggling to break his blade out of the lock that Ben managed to get it wound up in. "Minor miscalculation on my part."

"Yeah, maybe you should've stuck to a bomb you could've triggered on will," Ben came back. "Much smarter."

Instead of replying, the Sith finally managed to break his blade out of Ben's lock and then came down on the young Jedi Knight with a series of vicious strikes and slashes. But the latter managed to block them off expertly, though he had to utilize every lightsaber move and trick in the book he knew just to protect himself even as he was driven back by the force of the blows.

When Ben managed to get another lock on the Sith's blade, and finally found the opportunity to stand his ground, he smiled against the strain that his opponent was offering as he yet again struggled to break the lock. "You also should've called for backup."

The Sith's eyes widened in terror as his danger senses spiked. Within a second, he desperately turned away from Ben, dragging his blade out of the lock, but upon turning his back, he was instantly impaled in the gut by the green blade of Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. The assassin looked up to the Grand Master in pain before all signs of life faded away from his eyes.

Luke deactivated his lightsaber and allowed for the Sith's corpse to collapse on its back against the deck. He looked back up to his son. "You okay?"

"I think you should ask the ambassador that," Ben replied, nodding to Rehak and his guards, who were only just pushing themselves to their feet with the help of a few Jedi.

Ben joined Luke as stepped up to the human-Chiss hybrid. "Are you all right, Ambassador Rehak?" Luke asked.

"I think I'll have a sore back, but nothing that a little Force meditation can't fix," Rehak replied casually.

Every one of the Jedi there looked at the ambassador in surprise. "You can use the Force?" Luke asked.

"Of course I can," Rehak answered, his tone no less plain. "I've been using it since I was five years old."

The Grand Master raised an eyebrow. "You failed to mention that."

"You never asked," Rehak replied flippantly. He then looked over to his destroyed shuttle, which had been extinguished of the flames that had engulfed it by the hangar's fire team. "Well, it appears that my shuttle has been destroyed in a failed assassination attempt on the part of a particularly stupid Sith. If it's to fly again, we're going to need a few days or weeks to repair it."

"That won't be necessary, Ambassador," Luke replied. "Ben and I can take you to Coruscant aboard the _Jade Shadow_."

Rehak looked at Luke. "Well, that's very kind of you, Master Skywalker. And practical, too. You're right, we shouldn't waste anymore time. You can spare a few Jedi to investigate this, yes?"

"We have no choice but to do that," Luke replied. "Yes, let's go."

Rehak nodded and he and his guards then joined the Skywalkers as they headed over to the _Jade Shadow_.

Once they were all aboard the _Shadow_ and walking through the corridor that would lead them to the cockpit, Luke stopped them all and looked to his son. "Oh, I almost forgot, Ben, I'm going to need you to escort Ambassador Rehak to the guest quarters for the trip while I comm a few Knights to stay here and investigate that explosion."

Ben nodded wordlessly, then turned to the Chiss and waved them back the way they came. "Back down there," he pointed.

A few minutes later, after Luke commed those Jedi Knights and started up the engines, the _Shadow_ launched itself out of the hangar bay under Luke's piloting, and behind it was a convoy of Jedi StealthXs that would accompany them to Coruscant.


	4. Chapter 4

"Impressive quarters," Rehak commented as he, standing in the center of the living room, looked around his new surroundings within the _Jade Shadow_. Ben led him and his guards around the guest quarters so that he could get comfortable here for the duration of the trip to Coruscant.

"Glad you like 'em, Ambassador," Ben replied as he stood before the human-Chiss. "Gimme a holler if you need anything." He then moved to the door.

"Where are you going?" Rehak asked.

Ben looked back at the ambassador. "To the cockpit," Ben answered. "My dad needs me as his copilot."

"Oh, okay then," Rehak replied hastily. "You go then."

But Ben continued to regard Rehak with wonder. "Is there something you wanna share, Ambassador?"

"Oh, no, no, I was just curious where you headed off so soon, is all," Rehak said.

"You have something on your mind," Ben said. It wasn't a question.

"Am I really that obvious in the Force?" Rehak asked.

"Even the most pathetic, non-Force-sensitive sabacc player can tell that you have something to say to me," Ben said, crossing his arms.

Rehak's guards looked to their ambassador. The human-Chiss waved them down from doing anything without looking away from the Jedi Knight. "As a matter of fact, I do have something to say to you, Jedi Skywalker," the ambassador said.

"What a shock," Ben replied sarcastically. "Please share."

"I noted the way you fought that assassin back in the hangar," Rehak said. "And I must say, I wasn't all that impressed, to be honest."

"It did save your life," Ben said. "I didn't know you were looking for a show when the Jedi protect you from assassination attempts. We're not exactly a circus, if you haven't gathered already."

"Oh, I'm quite aware of that, I assure you," Rehak countered in his diplomatic way. "But even from a well-trained Jedi Knight such as yourself, coming from the loins of two of the most powerful Masters in the galaxy, one of whom revived the very Order you were raised in, I still think you could've done better."

"Elaborate," Ben said simply.

"Your use of the Force was quite inefficient and impractical," Rehak explained. "You could've taken that assassin out before any duel could have begun."

"The Jedi aren't exactly in the business of ending their opponents lives with the Force," Ben argued. "Not directly, anyway. Otherwise, we'd be Sith."

Rehak nodded defensively. "Fair enough. But still, with regards to your lightsaber technique, I noted how you fell so easily within the Ataru style of dueling, which could very well be your undoing in a duel against a Sith one day, Ben. At least in my opinion, anyway. Regardless, I felt that your technique could have been more..." His tone became introspective. "Oh, what's the word I'm looking for to sound more diplomatic about it? My, it seems my skills in this area are slipping from me."

Ben smirked. "Were you thinking of _aggressive_?"

Rehak shrugged. "That's one way to put it."

"Again, the Jedi use their skills to defend and protect, as I did for you back in that hangar," Ben said. "That, and the fact that I was trying to take that assassin alive so we could question why he wanted you dead."

"Yes, and how did that go?" Rehak retorted.

Ben frowned before he came back with, "You know, for a Force-user such as yourself who couldn't hide his feelings from me, I certainly don't know where you get off criticizing the Jedi Order like that."

"I wasn't criticizing the Jedi Order," Rehak said. "I was offering more of a commentary on your skills as a Force-user and a duelist."

"You have anything to offer, then, to improve on my training?" Ben retorted.

"Actually, I do," Rehak said. "That is, if you're willing to learn."

"I'm always willing to learn," Ben said. "Just not to someone who I can tell can't keep his emotions out of the Force."

Rehak smirked. "And what makes you think I didn't allow myself to be read by you _deliberately_?"

Ben fell silent for a moment before his comm beeped. He took it out of his belt and activated it. "Jedi Skywalker here."

"Ben, why aren't you in the cockpit yet?" his father's voice came on the other end.

"Sorry, Dad, I'll be right there," Ben answered quickly before signing off and replacing the comm in his belt. He looked back up to Rehak. "We'll talk more about this later."

Rehak retained his smirk. "Anytime."

Without another word, Ben turned around and left the guest quarters.

Rehak turned to his Chiss guards, Nopka and Gerro.

"Whereas I can hide and show my emotions on will, I know you two can't hide anything from me," Rehak said in a sinister tone. "What have either of you to say about this matter?"

The two guards looked at each other, and Gerro nodded to Nopka. They turned back and Nopka bowed. "My Lord, if I may speak freely?"

"Please do so," Rehak waved.

"Gerro and I both feel that you risk losing favor with Jedi Skywalker with your disagreements," Nopka said. "In our humble opinion, we feel that it may very well endanger your own plans to rule this galaxy with him at your side."

Rehak tilted his head with an amused smile in response. "Oh, on the contrary, Nopka. As always, you and Gerro appear to fail to understand how this is all going according to plan. I've only just begun with Skywalker; and I can feel that, while he consciously resents me for the moment, who he truly is is only just awakening to my presence.

"In time, he will turn, and he will see the true way to the Force. And when he does, I will finally have him, and we will be together again."


	5. Chapter 5

Galactic Alliance Chief of State Wynn Dorvan read the news of Hapan Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo's death on his datapad as he sat behind his office desk in shock. First this business with the Mandalorians thanks to Boba Fett's death, now this? Somehow, he had a feeling that even Tenel Ka's detractors would blame the GA for their Queen Mother's death just to add to the stress that Ghes Orade was putting on him by threatening the government with war.

Dorvan sighed in frustration. An entire year of relative peace after Abeloth and the Lost Tribe of the Sith were defeated, and now it seemed as if the galaxy itself would test his mettle as leader of the GA with all that was going on right now. He wondered if this was how Daala felt from the time she exiled Luke Skywalker from Coruscant all the way the point she lost her post when the Jedi Order pulled that successful coup on her. At least she was given two years of peace before all that happened; why couldn't he be given another year, too?

He was jarred out of his solem musings when the door to his office opened and the captain of his guard, a female Falleen named Greila, entered with two human male guards behind her. Dorvan looked up to the trio.

"Chief Dorvan, we have to get you to the Palace's underground bunker immediately," Greila said. "There's a crisis occurring right now."

"What's going on?" Dorvan asked as he stood up from his seat and walked over to his guards. He shut off his datapad and returned it to his pocket.

"An unknown fleet of ships whose hails claim them to be Sith have just entered the system," Greila entered as they exited the office and hurried to the turbolift down the hall. "The GA Defense Force is engaging them as we speak, but in case this Sith fleet does get to Coruscant, we need to assure that you'll be safe, as you well know."

Dorvan nodded as they entered the empty turbolift that just opened to Greila's push of the down button. "I understand," he said before the doors closed on them.

The elevator rocketed the foursome down to the basement level of the Imperial Palace in less than a minute. When the doors opened up, however, before them was a helmeted Mandalorian whose distinctive, blood-red armor allowed Dorvan to guess that it was Ghes Orade who managed to gun down Greila and the other guards in the span of two seconds before he himself entered the turbolift, aiming his hand-blaster at Dorvan's chest. The Chief of State of the GA attempted to remain composed even as he raised his arms in surrender and allowed his facial expression to devolve to sheer terror.

"Sorry I wasted these last few days for you, Chief Dorvan," Ghes Orade's voice came from the helmeted figure, confirming Dorvan's suspicions. "But I had to do this, as Mandalore the Avenger." Then the Mando pulled the trigger, and the Chief of State fell back dead.

Orade then turned back, pushed the button for the ground floor, and waited as the turbolift carried him up to the Imperial Palace's roof. Roughly two minutes later, the doors opened again and Orade rushed out to get to the Mandalorian shuttle that had just landed and whose landing ramp was extended for Mandalore the Avenger.

When Orade was aboard, and the ramp closed in on the shuttle, it took off and zoomed away from the Imperial Palace just before its ground floor erupted in flames. Seconds later, the rest of the Palace followed as it collapsed to its foundations into so much dusty rubble.

~o~

"How much longer before we reach Coruscant?" Ben, in the copilot's seat of the _Jade Shadow_, asked his father, in the pilot's seat, as the ship continued to fly through hyperspace.

"I reckon another few hours," Luke said. "So, in the meantime, you can return to your cabin and meditate if you want." He then stood up from his seat. "I know I certainly am." The Grand Master moved to leave the cockpit.

"Good idea," Ben said as he also stood from his seat and left the bridge.

The young Jedi Knight passed his father as the latter entered his own quarters to pass the time. But after the door closed, Ben stopped in his tracks and looked between his cabin and the guest quarters where Rehak and his guards were residing.

He doubted that the human-Chiss ambassador really had anything to contribute to his continued training in the Force.

_So what's the harm in humoring him?_ a voice in Ben's head asked him.

Yeah, what was the harm? Ben thought. Maybe he should see what Rehak had to tell him; perhaps it'll be amusing.

~o~

"You picked quite a time to assassinate the Queen Mother, Sing," Rehak said to the miniature hologram of the white-skinned humanoid hovering over his comm.

"I didn't think I'd have a better time to get rid of her than that council meeting," Aurra Sing replied snidely. "Sorry my timing was inconvenient." Her tone indicated that she wasn't genuine.

Rehak stifled a growl. He had his forces break Sing out of Galactic Alliance custody a few months after Abeloth and the Lost Tribe of the Sith were defeated for the purposes of eliminating the Hapan Queen Mother right around the time that the Sith would begin their war on the galaxy. The human-Chiss ambassador expected results from her, and he got them. He didn't expect her to have such an attitude about her though; he'd kill her from across the galaxy using the Force if she wasn't so useful or competent.

"You're lucky that my people have managed to silence the death of Djo through the Force and through traditional means of communication, Sing," Rehak said. "I know for a fact that not even her daughter on Shedu Maad is aware that she's dead."

"So what are you complaining about then?" Sing asked.

At that, Rehak allowed a hiss of frustration to escape from his teeth. "We'll talk more about this later. I have more pressing business to attend to." He then signed off and replaced the comm back on his belt before he moved out of the guest bedroom.

He was then met by Ben, who was standing between Nopka and Gerro.

"You've reconsidered?" Rehak asked.

Ben shrugged nonchalantly. "I have a few hours to kill."

Rehak smiled. "Then let's kill them."


	6. Chapter 6

"So, what do you wanna start me off with?" Ben asked as he continued to stand before Rehak.

Without indicating that he even heard Ben, the human-Chiss wordlessly turned away from the young Jedi Knight and returned to the guest quarters bedroom.

Standing there in confusion, Ben looked over to Nopka and Gerro before his danger sense spiked. He quickly looked back over to the bedroom where Rehak just leaped out and rocketed for the Jedi with a blazing yellow lightsaber. In an instant, Ben had his own weapon out and active to block the human-Chiss's attack even as he was suddenly being driven back by the ferocity of the incoming strikes.

Ben was still only blocking before he tripped against a sofa behind him and toppled over. When he was back on his feet against the floor of the living room, Rehak had already jumped to the top of the sofa and continued his slashes as if they never stopped. He continued to drive Ben back as he stepped down onto the seat of the couch, and then back to the floor. The human-Chiss forced Ben back for a few more steps before the latter managed to parry the former's yellow blade off to the side and launched a punch directly toward his pale face with his free hand.

But the ambassador managed to pivot out of the way of the incoming hit, used his free hand to grab Ben's fist, and flipped him forward to the floor on his back. The Jedi then kicked both feet up for Rehak's chest, but he jumped back a meter. This, however, gave Ben ample opportunity to leap to his feet and charge the human-Chiss ambassador.

The two of them traded several more quick blows against their blades before the door to the guest quarters opened up and Luke Skywalker appeared in the doorway. Ben and Rehak traded one last simultaneous attack against each others' sabers before they stopped and looked to the door with Nopka and Gerro.

"What is going on here?" the Grand Master of the Jedi Order asked in his intimidating tone.

"Dad!" Ben exclaimed as he and the human-Chiss ambassador extinguished their weapons and hooked them to their belts. "I... I'm sorry, Rehak and I were just..."

"Why were you dueling a Chiss ambassador, Jedi Skywalker?" Luke demanded.

"He... he was just teaching me..."

Luke then looked to his son's former dueling opponent. "What is the meaning of this, Ambassador Rehak?"

The human-Chiss smiled. "I assure you, Master Skywalker, that I intended no harm to your son, regardless of whatever else you might have felt through the Force."

Luke crossed his arms in judgment. "Please explain, Ambassador."

"I was merely trying to teach Ben how he could improve his lightsaber skills by learning when to attack rather than to simply defend," Rehak explained in a fairly neutral tone.

"Jedi like Ben have learned to do just that over the past several years," Luke intoned. "Anything more would be becoming of a dark sider, Ambassador, something I do not intend for my son to become. His cousin, Jacen, became that because he decided to explore the more gray areas of the Force, and he nearly corrupted Ben with the ideals that he was fed to by a Sith infiltrator. And because of this, Ben's mother, my wife, is dead, and I don't intend for my son to ever end up like his cousin. Do you understand that, Ambassador?"

"Perfectly," Rehak answered in a completely controlled tone.

"Good," Luke said. He then looked over to his son. "Ben, return to your quarters and meditate on this."

"Yes, Master Skywalker," Ben replied in a quiescent tone and with a nod. He gave one last indeterminate look to Rehak before moving away from the human-Chiss ambassador and out the door with his father.

When the door closed, Rehak smirked. He looked over to Nopka and Gerro with a satisfied grin. "Everything is going according to plan," the ambassador said. "Go ahead. Ask me how, one of you."

Nopka elbowed Gerro, and the latter sighed before speaking up. "How will this help you, My Lord?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"I felt the faintest slivers of the dark side writhe within Ben when we dueled," he explained. "And normally, when that happens, it is something that every Jedi goes through in the heat of combat, but with Ben, I felt that it was something that, had it been given just a few more pushes, it would have been inflamed. And while I expected Grand Master Skywalker to stop the duel before it truly escalated, what he just did will only begin the severing of their relationship. We can't have Ben turn too early, now can we?"

"B-but what about-" Gerro tried to ask.

"We won't sever it completely," Rehak interrupted. "Just enough so that Ben will lose his loyalty to his father."

"But what about his training?" Gerro asked.

"There'll be time enough for that to come," Rehak answered.

"But Master Skywalker, he won't..." Gerro continued.

"Allow me? Oh, Gerro, I assure you, by the time I have Ben back in my hands, his father will no longer see me as a threat."

~o~

"Admiral, thousands of ships are coming out of hyperspace in front of us!" the female human lieutenant of the _Admiral Ackbar_ announced from one of the Star Destroyer's comm stations.

Nek Bwua'tu growled in frustration; a mere few minutes earlier, several vessels from the Sith fleet broke through the Galactic Alliance Defense Force blockade around Coruscant and were now razing the world even as the remnants of the GADF continued to battle the elements of the enemy fleet still harrying the perimeter of the ring. Combined with reports from the ground of the destruction of the Imperial Palace, the death of Chief of State Dorvan, and even bombardments of structures like the abandoned Jedi Temple, Bwua'tu had sardonically wondered how things could possibly get worse.

"Are they reinforcements?" the admiral asked, hoping against hope that the ships coming out of hyperspace were allies and not more enemies.

"They're Confederate vessels, so I don't know, Admiral!" the lieutenant reported as she looked from her screen to her Bothan superior.

When the vessels designated as part of the Confederation dropped out of hyperspace, they almost immediately began adding their fire to the Sith fleet against the Galactic Alliance. Several projectiles that were now aiding the Sith struck the _Admiral Ackbar_'s already severely-damaged hull. Bwua'tu practically roared to command more intensive fire against their enemies, but after less than a quarter of a minute, the _Ackbar_ simply erupted into a brief cloud of flame that engulfed its near-legendary commander.


	7. Chapter 7

Having just been called out by comm from his quarters courtesy of his father a few moments earlier, Ben went to join him in the _Jade Shadow_'s cockpit and sat himself in the copilot's seat opposite of the Grand Master. They wordlessly ran through the hyperspace-dropout procedure in a routine manner, yet the silence that permeated had nothing to do with the monotony of the act of reverting to realspace. The brief yet wild duel between Ben and Rehak still served as gap between father and son that, while it could easily be healed, neither wanted to mend for the moment.

That uncomfortable silence came to an end when the _Shadow_ finally came out into the Coruscant system.

Much of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force fleet that had been assigned to protect Coruscant itself had been decimated, with massive, lifeless hulks and chunks of dead metal that were once structures of active warships that were sworn to protect the GA. Relatively few Alliance vessels were left to battle the mysterious enemy fleet, which was evidently aided by ships belonging to the Mandalorian and Confederation Nations, that were still destroying those ailing vessels by the load.

It was only a few seconds before the _Shadow_ attracted unwanted attention as various Mando, Confederation, and unidentified vessels began firing on her and the StealthXs that had just dropped out of hyperspace.

Luke desperately juked and jinked his late wife's beloved vessel throughout the battlefield that was the Coruscant system, avoiding fire where he could and allowing the ship's powerful shields to take some of the brunt of the incoming attacks. During his dodging - and firing, since he was blasting away several enemy starfighters that dared to challenge him - he and Ben both felt several Jedi presences - those belonging to the StealthXs that came with them - winking out, one by one, thanks to the overwhelming power of the enemy fleet.

So concentrated were the two Skywalkers on trying to survive that neither of them felt a concerned Rehak's presence at the entrance of the cockpit behind them. His loyal guards stood behind them, their expressions showing deep fear.

"What's happening?" Rehak asked.

While Luke continued to keep his concentration to what was seen outside the viewport, and on the _Shadow_'s sensors, Ben looked to the human-Chiss ambassador. "We're in the middle of a battle here, Rehak! If you don't mind, can you go back to your room so we can handle this?" He went back to the copilot controls.

"I can help!" Rehak proclaimed.

Ben looked back. "Can you copilot this yacht?"

"I've had experience piloting vessels such as this," Rehak answered.

"Then you can take over," Ben said, stepping out of his seat and heading out of the cockpit, stepping past the Chiss entourage. "I'm heading for my own StealthX."

Without hesitation, Rehak filled Ben's vacated seat and began performing his duties as if he were doing them all along. Luke didn't seem to mind his presence, especially since he was still too concentrated trying to make sure that the _Shadow_ wouldn't see its final flight here.

After a while - during which time, Luke and Rehak both felt Ben destroy several Sith vessels harrying the _Shadow_ - Luke finally looked to the human-Chiss and asked, "Do you think you can pilot while I send out a comm message?"

"If the message is important, then sure," Rehak said, not letting his eyes off his duties.

"It's important, trust me," Luke said hastily as he vacated his seat. Rehak filled it without protest and, like how he managed to substitute Ben's position so well, he began flying the ship almost as expertly as Luke.

The Grand Master ignored the ambassador's piloting abilities as he set up the comm frequency for the remaining StealthX ships. When he was done setting up the frequency, he spoke into it, "Attention, all Jedi in the Coruscant system, we're clearly outmatched here. Meet down at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."

"But, Dad!" Ben called. "The fleet's already destroyed it by now!"

"How do you know, Ben?" Luke asked.

"Because these guys are Sith!" Ben exclaimed, as if it were obvious. "Don't you feel 'em?!"

Luke paused in spite of the circumstances. Even in the heat of battle, desperately trying to survive against long odds, Luke was always able to figure out when he was dealing with Force-sensitives, especially with Sith. How could he not know when Ben could?

"We have to get down to Coruscant anyway," Luke said. "It's not safe up here."

"Fine," Ben replied.

"Skywalker out," Luke said, cutting off the frequency.

Wordlessly, Rehak vacated his seat for the third time as he returned to the copilot's position, allowing Luke to seamlessly return to the helm. He then aimed the _Shadow_ for Coruscant, feeling through the Force the remaining Jedi, such as his niece, Jedi Master Jaina Solo Fel, and Ben follow him down through the atmosphere. They encountered less resistance going down than when they were out in the greater space of the system.

Once they were within the skies of Coruscant, however, they were once again harried by incoming vessels belonging to the unidentified Sith, Mandalorians, and Confederates. Still, they managed to expertly maneuver their way through the incoming projectiles as they headed for the Temple, which, as Ben predicted, was reduced to slabs of smoky rubble.

"We need to head for the underworld," Luke said after opening up the comm frequency again. "From there, we'll rendezvous at the Temple's secret entrance!"

"Understood," all the replies came.

With that, no more words were spoken from either end of the frequency as the StealthXs followed the _Shadow_ down into the depths of Coruscant and toward the area that would give them a relatively safe haven from the battle.

Several minutes later, they arrived at the closed hangar, which opened up before the incoming presence of the _Shadow_ like a giant mouth anticipating a grand meal. The StealthXs followed in like dessert.

Upon their entrance, however, they found several dozen Sith, Mandalorians, and Confederate soldiers who were just heading for their vessels. The _Shadow_ and the StealthXs blasted away the ships into so much fiery debris, and the _Bes'uliik_ fighters were dispatched just by shooting out lasers toward their open fuel intakes; evidently, they had just been fueled for takeoff, but their pilots didn't get the opportunity to close any of them to protect them from destruction.

The pilots of the now-destroyed vessels were also blasted into superheated chunks of flesh and bone, and the Mandos, protected in their near-indestructible _beskar_ armor, were killed when lucky laser shots from the StealthXs hit their jetpacks, vaporizing them from armor to bones.

Once all of the enemies in the now-not-so-secret hangar were killed, the _Shadow_ and the StealthXs set down among the fiery remains and turned their engines off before they departed.


	8. Chapter 8

"Thank you for your help, Ambassador Rehak," Luke told the human-Chiss beside him, the both of them still sitting in their respective seats in the _Jade Shadow_'s cockpit. "Now return to the guest quarters where you'll be safe."

"Yes, Master Skywalker," Rehak nodded as he and Luke stood up from their seats and left the cockpit.

The ambassador returned to his quarters with Nopka and Gerro, as instructed, while Luke left the ship itself.

"Now I can get back to Sing," Rehak said to no one in particular as he headed to the quarters' bedroom.

A few minutes later, after establishing a link with the pale humanoid assassin, Rehak asked, "Did you take care of the 'Jedi queen' yet?"

Sing nodded. Rehak almost blew out a sigh of relief if the assassin didn't follow up with, "She won't be a problem for long."

The ambassador looked at her with a cold glare. "You mean she isn't dead yet?"

"She will be," Sing answered.

"_Will be_ isn't good enough for me, Sing," Rehak countered angrily. "Why aren't you doing your job?"

"I am, I already poisoned her," Sing said, her tone more level than snide. "She'll be dead soon. And even if she survives it, I still have a backup plan. By the way, I do believe you promised to tell me why you were complaining about my timing of the Queen Mother's assassination."

Rehak rolled his eyes. "Never mind that. My people have that covered, the news of her death or any of the political fallout still hasn't reached Shedu Maad."

"Of course, that won't be for long before a Hapan fleet that doesn't care much for Jedi arrives here to take care of 'em, right?" Sing asked.

"I'll be counting on that," he said. "Rehak out." He then closed the connection and looked to the exit where Nopka and Gerro stood nervously. "You have something to say?" he asked his guards.

"Well, sir, um, there's something you may need to know about," Nopka said.

"And what would that be?" Rehak asked patiently.

"Well, while we were heading for this hangar bay, we received a communication from Lady Sashal, one of our own," Gerro explained. "She told us to apologize on her behalf for not dedicating several ships to the fleet, in spite of our success here."

"Several Sith ships haven't participated in the battle?" Rehak asked.

"They have not, no, sir," Nopka confirmed, shaking his head.

"Then what are those other ships doing?" Rehak asked.

~o~

After departing and locking up their vessels - whether they'd be the _Jade Shadow_ or the remaining StealthXs that accompanied the yacht - the Jedi gathered up around Grand Master Skywalker, preparing to get their orders as he stood just in front of his own vessel.

He pointed out to a few Jedi here and there. "All of you, head out to the other entrances of the Temple from here; if the Sith and their allies knew to dock here somehow, even after destroying the Temple itself, then they've no doubt occupied other areas around here. If you encounter any hostile forces, report back here and make sure they lose you along the way. As you should all know by now, don't get cocky, because you may not make it out by playing hero. Is that understood?"

Those selected Jedi collectively nodded. "Good," Luke continued. "Head out now." As the Knights spread away from the rest of the group, Luke focused his attention on the remaining Jedi before him. "As for the rest of you, we need to stay here while I make contact with any remaining GA forces in the system."

~o~

Jedi apprentice Allana Djo Solo's eyes snapped open in shock and grief as she felt the death of her mother through the Force. Allana had been meditating in her quarters within Shedu Maad's Jedi Temple, and only now did she feel that Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo was no longer among the living. Subconsciously, Allana was aware that her mother's death occurred just some time ago, as she sensed an echo in the Force that indicated that she didn't die just now, but all that clouded the little girl's mind now was the sudden realization that she was an orphan.

She broke down sobbing in complete sadness, curling up into a fetal position and biting her fist as she allowed the tears to flow freely.

Then something happened. Allana's sadness suddenly disappeared, and it was quickly replaced by something a lot more physical. She gagged and coughed coarsely until she collapsed to her back, convulsing as if she were in a seizure. Yet, even as she flopped on the floor like a fish out of water, Allana was still somehow able to reach out to the Force to help calm herself down.

In the end, after a full minute of shaking, Allana finally fell completely still.

~o~

Less than a minute later, Han and Leia entered Allana's room and rushed for her body. They knelt down over her body before Han checked her pulse.

"She's still alive," Han said, trying to keep calm given the circumstances of his granddaughter.

"I know," Leia said. "Her presence in the Force is still faint."

"She's in a coma, isn't she?" Han asked, looking to his Force-sensitive wife.

Leia nodded. "We need to get her down to the medbay." She then lifted Allana up into her arms as she and Han stood back up. "Hopefully, she'll find out what happened."

The Solos then departed from the room, neither of them taking notice of the unfinished cup of juice left on top of the quarters' counter.

~o~

"Master Cilghal," Leia started to say as she and Han entered the Jedi Temple's medbay with Allana's comatose body. But she and her husband stopped dead in their tracks when they found Cilghal and her former apprentice and Jedi Knight Tekli lying lifeless on their backs on the other side of the room.

And standing over their corpses was a pale lean female that both Solos once knew as Nashtah.

"Aurra Sing," Leia muttered bitterly.

"It's nice to see you, too, Princess," Sing said as she unhooked a curved lightsaber hilt from her belt and activated its red blade. "You wanna have a cup of caf and catch up first?" Her tone was obviously sarcastic.

Leia, without hesitation, handed Allana off to Han and whipped out and ignited her own blade, facing Sing down. "Go, Han. Get Allana to safety."

Han wordlessly turned and ran off.

Sing smirked. "Even if I fail, the Jedi queen will still die. And so will your husband." Then she lunged and struck her blade against Leia's.


	9. Chapter 9

It didn't take Han long to get to the Jedi Temple's hangar bay where the _Millennium Falcon_ had been parked. However, upon his entrance, he was shocked to find a battle raging between several Jedi Knights and various darkly-robed Sith; their lightsabers clashed and flashed as chaos reigned in the bay, with so many Jedi and Sith bodies dropping dead to the polished floor. Adding to the violence, what with blasterfire also getting involved on individuals from both sides of the fight, fires among the StealthXs there - Han had no doubt that the Sith came in some of the starfighters as infiltrators - were spreading into a raging inferno that would soon make the hangar look like one of the rings of the Nine Corellian Hells.

Han looked out among the chaos and found that, in spite of all the odds, the _Millennium Falcon_ was still intact, untouched by any of the havoc that was occurring. He then rushed over to his beloved vessel, doing his level best to avoid any blasterfire - whether they'd be intentional or not - and dodged any incoming sweeps of lightsabers from both Jedi and Sith alike, even with his granddaughter's unconscious body acting as a hindrance. He couldn't even take out and fire his blaster as he hurried for the _Falcon_.

In spite of the odds, however - as Han Solo was always known to have fought and bested them in the end - he managed to make it for his famous YT-1300 and hastily palmed for the hatch to be lowered. Mere seconds later, he was running up the ramp before it touched the floor, and he naturally shut it back up once he reached the top. He then hurried for the _Falcon_'s medbay and placed Allana on top of the bed before rushing back to the cockpit. But before he could prime the engines in the pilot seat - he would have come back for Leia once she sent him a message telling them that she defeated Aurra Sing - the bow of the ship suddenly lurched forward from some kind of great impact from the rear. The lurch threw Han against the still-inactive controls, and he then struggled to get off of them in order to recollect his bearings.

He then began a fairly steep climb up where the rear of the _Falcon_ was pointing to the Jedi hangar bay's ceiling to first check up on Allana, and then find out how his ship was upended. But before he could make it to the medbay's entrance, a few inches of red lightsaber appeared in the floor mere meters before him to cut a molten circular hole. That chunk of the _Falcon_'s floor fell out of sight to the hangar floor below, and who jumped in but one of many people Han least wanted to see in his old age.

Vestara Khai.

The Sith girl was the sole survivor of a Lost Tribe strike team sent to kill Luke and Ben during their journey to discover how and why Han's oldest son, Jacen, fell to the dark side of the Force during his sojourn following the Yuuzhan Vong War. She ended up helping Luke and Ben in the hunt for the dark entity known as Abeloth, and for a time, she had temporarily relinquished her title as a Sith to become a Jedi apprentice and girlfriend of Ben. But, as with all Sith, she betrayed the entire Order by revealing to fellow Lost Tribe members that Allana was the prophesied Jedi queen seen in the Pool of Knowledge by High Lord Sarasu Taalon, one of the Tribe's leaders, who Vestara murdered when he decided to side with Abeloth as he gained new powers from the Pool. Vestara even tried to assassinate Allana herself, which resulted in the death of one of her closest friends, Bazel "Barv" Warv, when he protected her against the Sith. Following the death of Abeloth, and after Ben came to learn of his girlfriend's treachery, she escaped in the Sith Meditation Sphere known as Ship and was never seen again.

Now, here she was again, smirking at Han with the side of her mouth that had a slight scar on it even as she raised her lightsaber against him.

In spite of his age, Han still managed to whip out and aim his blaster for Vestara, with the knowledge of a Sith being able to bat aside a laser bolt so easily ending up in the back of Han's mind as he began pulling the trigger. Naturally, as could be predicted, Vestara easily reflected the shots off to the sides before slashing her blade down the nozzle of Han's blaster, rendering it useless.

He didn't even have time to drop it before that same blade impaled him through the chest.

Han looked in shock from the blade back up to Vestara, who still held that arrogant, scarred smirk.

She then deactivated the blade and allowed for Han's corpse to collapse back toward the control panel of the _Falcon_.

~o~

Leia had just been backed into a corner of the Jedi Temple's medbay in her duel against Aurra Sing when a sudden explosion in the Force assaulted her entire being. She doubled over and collapsed to the floor with a wild scream as it dawned upon her that her husband of thirty-seven years, Han Solo, was dead. During this display of shock and grief, Sing simply decided to stand back and enjoy the show with a sadistic smile plastered on her face.

When Leia finally collapsed prone to the floor, weeping and sobbing, not at all caring if her opponent would murder her, Sing then deactivated her lightsaber and left the room.

Five years earlier, Han and Leia had foiled Sing's initial assassination attempt of Tenel Ka Djo in the early days of the Second Galactic Civil War, when the spouses knew her as Nashtah, a hired gun sent by the Hapan Heritage Council to make sure that the Consortium wouldn't be run by a Jedi, even if Djo wasn't technically a Jedi since the Swarm War. And while the Solos, who were then acting as fellow assassins against the royal bloodline, had treated her with relatively gracious hospitality while she was in their company, she found that she couldn't get back at their son when he defeated her, with the help of his four-year-old daughter, and detained her aboard one of his Star Destroyer's prison cells so she could be imprisoned in a Supermax facility on Coruscant for the next twenty years.

When she was busted out by Rehak's cronies a few months ago in secret, she realized that one of her missions would be to target Allana Solo, the future Jedi queen who would bring Balance to the Force. It would be nice to get back at the Solo clan, she thought.

And now Sing could just let Leia sulk as the assassin took her leave.

Of course, Sing wouldn't be so confident, as Leia did not cry out for her granddaughter's death.


End file.
